Youth in STEM research project

Date published:
1 March 2019
Date updated:
22 August 2025

Confidence, interest and skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) start at a young age. 

Many factors influence girls’ and other young diverse peoples’ perceptions and attitudes to STEM. These early experiences can differ between groups, including whether young people are motivated to take STEM subjects and aspire towards a STEM career. 

The Youth in STEM research project explores:

  • perceptions and attitudes of young people to STEM subjects and careers
  • perceptions and attitudes of key influencers – parents, teachers and career advisers.

YouthInsight (the research arm of Student Edge) carries out this ongoing research for our department. It’s part of our work to collect and present data on girls’, women’s and diverse peoples’ participation in STEM.

Read the research reports

Explore interactive data and insights

The STEM Equity Monitor integrates select data from this research and allows us to see changes and trends over time.